Dos & Don'ts

No Demolition Man on the links, Sylvester Stallone (far left), in shorts from Henry Cotton and a $100 Ralph Lauren argyle shirt, scored a hole in one for appearance at Ocean Course in Kiawah, S.C. (A neophyte golfer, he shot an impressive 80.) But at Pebble Beach, Calif., rocker Eddie Van Halen was a denim in the rough.

In a side-slit dress by Bill Hargate, Candice Bergen (far right) showed a glimpse of stocking and was simply smashing at the January Golden Globe Awards. But Madonna in platform Puma sneakers and a $260 maroon cotton Adidas dress by Laura Whitcomb, didn’t even show off Girlie Show gams at the New York City premiere of Sleepless in Seattle. Designer Whitcomb wishes the singer had worn the dress (also owned by actresses Juliette Lewis and Winona Ryder) in her own size, 4-6. “The one she wore was a 10, and she looked terrible.”

Unlike her made-for-TV alter ego Amy Fisher, Drew Barrymore (right) knows the value of discretion: That three-stranded pearl choker is an understated classic. But Ivana Trump, who peddles her own line of rags and rocks on the Home Shopping Club, only seemed to overpower with baubles, bangles and beads and more beads…

Aretha Franklin (near left) took the “Natural Woman” thing a little too far, receiving major flack for wearing a hooded Valentino golden sable coat when she sang at the Clinton Inaugural last January. “Aretha often gets cold onstage,” explained a spokesperson. “People have their opinions, and she has hers.” Vanessa Williams, however, was politically correct in faux leopard at the Malcolm X premiere.

At an L.A. fundraiser, Meg Ryan, in a simple but sexy scoop-necked dress and a classy double strand of pearls, and husband Dennis Quaid, in a couture-cut suit and striped tie, were an elegantly matched set. Turning out for the premiere of A Few Good Men in December, soon-to-be third-time parents Demi Moore and Bruce Willis weren’t turned out at all.

Aye, aye and nay, nay: Bonnie Prince Charles was shipshape in his Royal Navy captain’s cap; Larry Hagman appeared lost at sea without his 10-gallon Dallas Stetson.

Clint Eastwood pondered which of his old tuxedos to wear to the Oscars. Finally, he “took the soup stains out of my Cerruti” and donned a lucky leather bow tie. But our “Achy Breaky Heart” is busted to see Billy Ray Cyrus at May’s Academy of Country Music Awards only half formal.

At the Golden Globes, Saved By the Bell’s Elizabeth Berkley was a cut above the crowd in a dress by Plein Sud. In a Todd Oldham number, Susan Sarandon looked down for the count.

RuPaul lives by his anthem, “Supermodel (You Better Work).” Statuesque in a $4,500 crystal-studded gown by Pamela Dennis (he selected the designer after admiring one of her dresses on Joan Rivers), he affects a glam pose. Someone should tell Dame Edna (aka Barry Humphries, far right) that if you’re going to go to the trouble of being a female impersonator, it’s a drag to choose Milton Berle as a role model.

Is it Poetic Justice that once-pudgy songbird Janet Jackson can stylishly soar in braids and Byblos shades while sister La Toya’s incognito look—aviator specs and a blond wig—doesn’t fly?

Entertainment reporter Leeza Gibbons’s new series, John & Leeza, may have received rough ratings, but her ruffled romantic look—languid and soft—in a $460 ensemble by Allen B. Schwartz strikes just the right chord. Raquel Welch, somewhere between poet and pirate in a foppy, floppy shirt, tight gold-damask vest and pirate boots, is definitely off-key.

Last June, Tom Cruise Firmly planted his metatarsals and metacarpals in cement at Mann’s Chinese Theatre’s Forecourt of the Stars, looking as though he was re-creating his role as a tweaky teen in Risky Business. Two months later, Mel Gibson’s Lethal hand-and footprints were saved for posterity, and his outfit bespoke prosperity. Both Tom and Mel had clay feet, but at least Mel’s shirt was tucked in.

Nicole Kidman (above) looks adorable in a $350 Anna Sui granny dress. Shelley Duvall came off more like something out of her own Faerie Tale Theatre.

Barbara Walters’s 20/20 eye was on target when she chose this flattering, fetching couture John Anthony to wear to the Waldorf-Astoria in February, where she emceed a bash honoring prominent New Yorkers. Jane Fonda was no Ted, er, head turner at the Oscars. In her unflattering silk crepe dress by Versace, she looked like a runaway from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It’s time she exercised some better taste.

Is it Petty to suggest that 5’2″ Paula (Forever Your Girl) Abdul didn’t get a fashion lift from the shoes she donned for Bob Hope’s 90th-birthday bash in May? Stepping out to a June benefit for AIDS Project Los Angeles, A League of Their Own’s Lori (left) put her best foot forward in stylish vintage ’70s platforms.

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